FBR notifies decrease in property valuation rates of up to 57 percent

ISLAMABAD: Property rates in six cities will plunge 57 percent after the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) decision on Thursday to reverse a policy initiated in 2016

An increase of 25-30 percent in property valuations was in the offing since the last seven months for six to seven cities, reported an English daily.

Ex-finance minister Ishaq Dar had initiated this policy in August 2016 in coordination with real estate stakeholders for upward revision in property valuations.

Six separate notifications have been issued by FBR to notify these decreases in various areas of major cities of Pakistan. Increases in property valuation rates would have led to rise in collection of federal withholding and capital gains tax, but now the prices have been pushed down for certain areas in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Faisalabad.

FBR in Lahore has reduced valuation rates for seven areas from 4.3 percent to 51.5 percent. For Shalimar Town, valuation rate for Gujjar Pura China Scheme has been decreased by 51.5 percent to Rs363,000 per marla.

And for Allama Iqbal Town, EME society the rates have been slashed by 32.8 percent to touch Rs562,500 per marla.

In Karachi, valuation rates for Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Karachi have been reduced by 17.5 percent, touching Rs7,500 per square yard. For industrial plots, valuation rates have been decreased by 20 percent to Rs9,603 per square yard and rates for built-up industrial parks will fall by 36.5 percent to Rs1,905 per square yard.

For Islamabad, the residential property valuation rate will fall by 14 percent to Rs15,309 per square yard. For sector I-15 and I-16, rates will decrease by 54.4 percent and 36.2 percent respectively.

In Rawalpindi, revised valuation rates for elite residential areas have been slashed by up to 57.2 percent. DHA-I valuation rates will fall around 39 percent to Rs335,000 per marla. DHA-II rate will reduce by 37.5 percent to Rs255,000 per marla and DHA-II extension by 45.7 percent to Rs95,000 per marla.

For DHA-III, valuation rates will plummet by 40 percent to Rs90,000 and DHA-IV by 51.11 percent to Rs110,000. Valuation rates for Executive Meadows Phase-III, Bahria Town will decline 55 percent to Rs270,000 per marla.

For Phase-I, Bahria town prices will come down by 25.33 percent to Rs280,000 per marla and for Phase-1 extension it would plummet 56 percent to Rs165,000 per marla. Bahria Town, Phase-II rates will decline 54.2 percent to Rs160,000.

Phase-II extension, Bahria Town prices will fall by 57.2 percent to Rs200,000 to Rs150,000 per marla.